Marble torso of a figure

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy
The fine white marble torso and thighs are all that survive of this female figure, which would have originally stood ca. 55.0 cm high. A recent hole at the break of the neck may have been intended for joining the neck with a head. Large losses on the reverse of the legs and back are unfilled. Traces of a shallow curved incision delineate the base of the neck. The figure has deeply sloping angular shoulders, the right one chipped and filled in. The lightly arched forearms, sculpted in low relief without indications of fingers, are folded left over right below evenly spaced low-relief conical breasts and above a long, narrow slightly bulging abdomen. Incised lines across the entire pelvis indicate the pubic area with a fine vertical stroke for the vagina. The rounded thighs taper toward the knees. Deep vertical grooves delineate the joined legs at the front and back. A fine vertical groove at the back delineates the spine as far as the sharp angular protruding buttocks.
There is a possible almond-shaped paint ghost at the top of the left arm incision, one corner at the left breast and another corner pointing toward the left shoulder.


This partial figure may have belonged to the Keros Hoard.(1)




(1) Sōtērakopoulou, P. I. 2005. The "Keros Hoard : Myth or Reality?  Searching for the Lost Pieces of a Puzzle. no. 223, pp. 222–23, Athens and Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.


Georgios Gavalas, Sandy MacGillivray, Dorothy Abramitis and Elizabeth Hendrix